Westlake Avenue

Westlake Avenue

Looking northbound from Virginia Street
Type	Arterial street
Maintained by	Seattle Department of Transportation
Length	2.5 mi (4.0 km)[1]
Location	Seattle, Washington
South end	Stewart Street at McGraw Square
Major junctions	Denny Way Mercer Street
North end	Fremont Avenue N / Dexter Avenue N / Nickerson Street
Construction
Completion	1906

Westlake Avenue is a major street in Seattle, Washington, connecting Downtown Seattle to the neighborhoods of South Lake Union, Westlake and northeastern Queen Anne. The street runs north–south along the west side of Lake Union for 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from McGraw Square to the Fremont Bridge.

The street's unusual route through the Denny Triangle follows a former railroad grade through a narrow valley between two hills that were regraded in the early 20th century. Westlake Boulevard was constructed through the valley in 1906, following the railroad and a streetcar line, and was later renamed to Westlake Avenue. The street was modified to run northbound-only from Denny Way to Mercer Street in the mid-20th century, and remained one-way until 2007.

Westlake Avenue is also served by a variety of public transit routes, including the South Lake Union Streetcar and RapidRide C Line. In 2016, a section of the street in South Lake Union received transit-only lanes in March 2016 and a cycletrack was installed along the west side of Lake Union. A Link light rail station is planned to be built at Westlake and Denny Way when a planned extension to Ballard is completed in 2035.